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The Decommissioning of the Latina Nuclear Power Plant

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The Decommissioning of the Latina Nuclear Power Plant WM’01 Conference, February 25-March 1, 2001, Tucson, AZ THE DECOMMISSIONING OF THE LATINA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT G. Bolla, Eur Ing. Director, Plant Activities Co-ordination, Sogin, Italy. E. Macci, Eur. Ing. Decommissioning Planning Manager, Sogin, Italy. J. F. D. Craik, C. Eng Decommissioning Manager - Bradwell & Hinkley A, BNFL, UK P. Walkden, Ph.D., C Eng. Development Manger, BNFL, UK ABSTRACT Following a referendum in Italy in the late 1980s, the four nuclear power stations owned and operated by the state utility ENEL were closed down. During the late 1990s, twin decisions were made to privatise ENEL and to transform the nuclear division of ENEL into a separate subsidiary of the ENEL group. This group was renamed Sogin and during the past year, the shares in the company have been transferred from ENEL to the Italian Treasury. After agreeing to close the Italian NPPs, ENEL selected a “safestore” decommissioning strategy; anticipating a safestore period of some 40-50 years. This approach was consistent with the funds collected by ENEL during plant operation, and was reinforced by the lack of both a LLW repository and an unambiguous set of clearance limits for the free release of contaminated materials in Italy. On formation, Sogin was asked by the Italian government to review the national decommissioning strategy. The objective of the review was to move from a safestore strategy to a prompt decommissioning strategy, with the target of releasing all of the nuclear sites by 2020. It was recognised that this target was conditional upon the availability of a national LLW repository together with interim stores for both spent fuel and HLW by 2009. The government also agreed that additional costs caused by the acceleration of the decommissioning programme would be considered as stranded costs. These costs will be recovered by a levy on the kwh price of electricity, a process established and controlled by the Regulator of the Italian energy sector. As Sogin considered the development of new strategies for their NPPs, they looked to BNFL for assistance. BNFL is currently decommissioning three Magnox stations in the UK and is at an advanced stage of planning for the decommissioning of two further NPPs, one of these being Bradwell, the sister station to the Latina plant. BNFL Group also has considerable experience of prompt decommissioning programmes through, amongst others, their work at the WAGR reactor in the UK and at Big Rock Point in the US. The combination of Sogin's site and plant operations experience with BNFL's power reactor decommissioning including remote operations, planning and regulatory experience was a perfect fit. Over the past year, a revised decommissioning programme, drawing upon the combined experience of the two companies, has been developed. This has incorporated a study for dismantling the reactor vessel and contents, the bio-shield and embedded equipment and the handling and packaging of wastes for disposal. This has been achieved despite a very demanding time-scale. Theoretical and practical experiences from both Sogin's site operations and BNFL's operations in North America and Europe have been used to quantify liabilities and progress the planning process to the point where Sogin have been able to define their funding requirements for Latina with their stakeholders . WM’01 Conference, February 25-March 1, 2001, Tucson, AZ HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The history of commercial nuclear power in Italy dates back nearly 40 years to the opening of the Latina reactor in 1963. In the same year, the nationalised electricity utility ENEL was formed by the combination of the existing private utilities, including Simea (the operator of Latina), Selni, (the operator of Trino) and Senn (the operator of Garigliano). By 1978, the BWR reactor at Caorso was on line and the earlier BWR at Garigliano had been retired. Plans for a further reactor at Alto Lazio were also well advanced. However, the Chernobyl accident in 1986 triggered a strong anti-nuclear sentiment in Italy, and in 1987, a referendum resulted in a decision to close the remaining nuclear power stations. In 1992, after a five -year moratorium, the Italian Government took the final decision to permanently shut down all Italian NPPs (Figure 1). Type Designer MWe Commercial Plant Operation Shutdown Latina Gas Graphite TNPG 200 1963 1986 Garigliano BWR Dual Cycle General Electric 150 1964 1978 Trino PWR Westinghouse 260 1964 1987 Caorso BWR AMN - GETSCO 860 1978 1986 Fig. 1. The Italian NPPs The closed NPPs continued to be owned and managed by the state owned utility ENEL, which remains the largest utility in Italy (and one of the largest in the world). However, during the late 1990s, the decision was made to privatise ENEL and at the same time, to transform the nuclear division of ENEL into a separate subsidiary of the ENEL group. This subsidiary was renamed Sogin. Finally, in late 2000, the shares in Sogin were transferred from ENEL to the Italian Treasury. The newly formed organisation was tasked with three main objectives: · To manage the post operation activities of the four Italian NPPs, · To manage the decommissioning, spent fuel management and site restoration issues associated with each site, · To pursue business opportunities in external markets drawing on ENELs nuclear experience. BNFL's operations combine the capabilities and interests of the former BNFL, Westinghouse, ABB and Magnox Electric organisations. The company has considerable nuclear site management experience and is familiar with owning and managing nuclear liabilities over long periods of time. The company has also developed considerable regulatory and risk management experience as it has started to decommission its earlier plant, some of which date back to the 1940’s. This breadth and depth of D&D experience, both in terms of alpha and beta/gamma projects, has helped BNFL to gain significant experience of the developing reactor decommissioning market. DECOMMISSIONING STRATEGIES Prior to the closure of the Italian NPPs, ENEL had developed a safestore decommissioning strategy. The strategy anticipated a safestore period of some 40-50 years. Both the strategy WM’01 Conference, February 25-March 1, 2001, Tucson, AZ and the safestore period were designed to be consistent with the funds that had been collected by ENEL during plant operation, i.e., over the period 1964-1987. Furthermore, the overall approach being adopted was reinforced by the lack of both an Italian LLW repository and an unambiguous set of Italian clearance limits for the free release of contaminated materials. After the NPP closure decision, it was agreed that decommissioning work should start, commencing with the Garigliano station which had closed some 10 years earlier, and this sta tion is now close to being in a safestore condition. However, when Sogin was formed, the Italian government instructed the new management to review the Italian NPP decommissioning strategy. The objective of the review was to assess the feasibility and impact (both technical and commercial) of changing from the existing safestore strategy to a more aggressive decommissioning strategy, with the target of releasing all of the nuclear sites by 2020. It was recognised that this target was conditional upon the a vailability, by 2009, of a national LLW repository together with interim stores for both spent fuel and HLW. From the outset, the government recognised that any additional costs due to the acceleration of the decommissioning programme would have to be considered as “stranded costs”. It was envisaged that these extra costs would have to be recovered by a levy on the (kwh) price of electricity, and that the whole process of financing the new decommissioning programme would be established and controlled by the Regulator of the Italian energy sector. Obviously, a revised strategy, programme and overview of associated decommissioning costs was required quickly so that the appropriate funding measures could be put in place. As Sogin considered the development of prompt decommissioning strategies for their NPPs, BNFL was an obvious source of support and assistance. BNFL has enjoyed a long relationship with the Italian nuclear industry, both as a supplier of fuel and reprocessing services, but also (since the acquisition of Magnox Electric in 1998) as a fellow utility. Furthermore, BNFL is currently decommissioning three Magnox stations in the UK and is at an advanced stage of planning for the decommissioning of two further NPPs, one of these being Bradwell - the sister station to the Italian Latina plant. Finally, BNFL Group (through Westinghouse and ABB) has considerable experience of most of the major reactor types and significant experience of prompt decommissioning programmes through, amongst others, their work for the UKAEA at the WAGR reactor in the UK and at Big Rock Point in the US. The combination of Sogin's site and plant operations experience with BNFL's remote operations, planning and regulatory experience was attractive to both parties. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROMPT DECOMMISSIONING STRATEGY Over the past year, a revised decommissioning strategy with associated programme and cost, has been developed for the Latina NPP drawing upon the combined experience of Sogin and BNFL. This has been achieved despite a very demanding time-scale. Theoretical and practical experiences from both Sogin and BNFL's operations in North America and Europe have been used to quantify liabilities and progress the planning process to the point where Sogin have been able to define their funding requirements for Latina with their stakeholders . The target set was that the reactor was to be decommissioned to green field within 20 years, recognising that the higher radiation levels would require the deployment of totally remote dismantling techniques for the reactor core components. A major factor in the WM’01 Conference, February 25-March 1, 2001, Tucson, AZ planning assumptions was the availability of a repository in 2009.
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